Vintilă Horia (; December 18, 1915 – April 4, 1992) was a

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n writer, winner of the

Prix Goncourt The Prix Goncourt ( , "The Goncourt Prize") is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year". The prize carries a symbolic reward of only 10 euros, but resul ...

. His best known novel is '' God Was Born in Exile'' (1960).

Life and career

Horia was born in Segarcea, a small town in

Dolj County Dolj County (; originally meant ''Dol(no)-Jiu River, Jiu'', "lower Jiu", as opposed to ''Gorj'' (''upper Jiu'')) is a county (județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in Oltenia, with the capital city at Craiova. Demographics In 2011, ...

. After graduating from Saint Sava High School in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, he studied Law, and then Letters at the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest (UB) () is a public university, public research university in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princely Academy of Bucharest, P ...

, and in parallel at universities in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. An associate of the

far right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and Nativism (politics), nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on ...

thinker

Nichifor Crainic Nichifor Crainic (; pseudonym of Ion Dobre ; 22 December 1889, Bulbucata, Giurgiu County – 20 August 1972, Mogoșoaia) was a Romanian writer, editor, philosopher, poet and theologian famed for his traditionalist activities. Crainic was ...

, Horia sat on the editorial board of his '' Sfarmă Piatră'' journal. He contributed to ''

Gândirea ''Gândirea'' ("The Thinking"), known during its early years as ''Gândirea Literară - Artistică - Socială'' ("The Literary - Artistic - Social Thinking"), was a Romanian literary, political and art magazine. Overview Founded by Cezar P ...

'' and ''Porunca Vremii'' articles praising the

Italian fascism Italian fascism (), also called classical fascism and Fascism, is the original fascist ideology, which Giovanni Gentile and Benito Mussolini developed in Italy. The ideology of Italian fascism is associated with a series of political parties le ...

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

(''Miracolul fascist'' — "The

Fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

Miracle"), as well as pieces attacking authors whom the traditionalist group viewed as

decadent Decadence was a late-19th-century movement emphasizing the need for sensationalism, egocentricity, and bizarre, artificial, perverse, and exotic sensations and experiences. By extension, it may refer to a decline in art, literature, science, ...

(notably,

Tudor Arghezi Ion Nae Theodorescu (21 May 1880 – 14 July 1967) was a Romanian writer who wrote under the pen name Tudor Arghezi (. He is best known for his unique contribution to poetry and children's literature. Biography Early life He graduated from Sai ...

and

Eugen Lovinescu Eugen Lovinescu (; 31 October 1881 – 16 July 1943) was a Romanian modernist literary historian, literary critic, academic, and novelist, who in 1919 established the ''Sburătorul'' literary club. He was the father of Monica Lovinescu, and the ...

). After Crainic took over as Minister of

Propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Carol II Carol II (4 April 1953) was King of Romania from 8 June 1930, until his forced abdication on 6 September 1940. As the eldest son of Ferdinand I of Romania, King Ferdinand I, he became crown prince upon the death of his grand-uncle, King Carol I, ...

authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and ...

government, he appointed Horia as member of the diplomatic mission to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. According to his own account, Horia shared Crainic's rejection of the

Iron Guard The Iron Guard () was a Romanian militant revolutionary nationalism, revolutionary Clerical fascism, religious fascist Political movement, movement and political party founded in 1927 by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu as the Legion of the Archangel M ...

, and, after Carol was ousted by the latter's

National Legionary State The National Legionary State () was a Totalitarianism, totalitarian Fascism, fascist regime which governed Kingdom of Romania, Romania for five months, from 14 September 1940 until its official dissolution on 14 February 1941. The regime was led ...

government, he was recalled from office.Rotaru He later left for

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. With Romania's siding with the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

in August 1944 (''see

Romania during World War II The Kingdom of Romania, under the rule of King Carol II of Romania, King Carol II, initially maintained Neutral country, neutrality in World War II. However, fascist political forces, especially the Iron Guard, rose in popularity and power, urgi ...

''), Horia was taken prisoner by the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

authorities, and interned in the

concentration camps A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploit ...

Karpacz Karpacz (, German: ''Krummhübel'') is a spa town and ski resort in Jelenia Góra County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, south-western Poland, and one of the most important centres for mountain hiking and skiing, including ski jumping. Its populatio ...

and Maria Pfarr. He was liberated a year later by the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

. Deciding not to return to an increasingly

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

-dominated Romania, Vintilă Horia lived in Italy (where he became good friends with

Giovanni Papini Giovanni Papini (9 January 18818 July 1956) was an Italian journalist, essayist, novelist, short story writer, poet, literary critic, and Italian philosophy, philosopher. A controversial literary figure of the early and mid-twentieth century, he ...

). In 1946, following a trial ''in absentia'' during the Post-World War II Romanian war crime trials, Horia was sentenced to life in prison for facilitating the penetration of fascist ideas in Romania, and for making the case for those ideas to be implemented under the leadership of the German embassy in

. The sentence against him has never been rescinded.Wagner In 1948, Horia moved to

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, where he taught at the

Universidad de Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires (, UBA) is a public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the second-oldest university in the country, and the largest university of the country by enrollment. Established in 1821, the UBA has educa ...

; after March 1953, he lived in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, employed as a researcher in the Italic Studies field. He won the

for his novel '' Dieu est né en exil'' (''God was born in exile'') in

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

; however, following the allegations that he had been a member of the Iron Guard, Horia refused to receive the Prize, but the Goncourt remains attributed to him. According to some, the allegations constituted

slander Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making wikt:asserti ...

aimed at Horia by the

communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...

, with the purpose of blackmailing him into issuing positive remarks about the regime. His book notably attracted

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary criticism, literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th ...

's criticism. Other prizes received by Vintilă Horia include ''Medalla de Oro de Il Conciliatore'', Milano (1961); ''Bravo para los hombres que unem en la verdad'', Madrid (1972); and the Dante Alighieri Prize, Florence (1981). He died in

Collado Villalba Collado Villalba () is a municipality of the Community of Madrid, in central Spain. It is located 40.3 kilometres north-west of the city of Madrid, at an altitude of 917 meters above sea level. It has a population of 64,263 (2022), with a popula ...

, a municipality of

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, and was buried in the Madrid Civil Cemetery. The centenary of Vintilă Horia was celebrated at the

University of Alcalá The University of Alcalá () is a public university located in Alcalá de Henares, a city 35 km (22 miles) northeast of Madrid in Spain and also the third-largest city of the region. It was founded in 1293 as a ''Studium Generale'' for t ...

(a Spanish university in

Alcalá de Henares Alcalá de Henares () is a Spanish municipality of the Community of Madrid. Housing is primarily located on the right (north) bank of the Henares River, Henares. , it has a population of 193,751, making it the region's third-most populated Municip ...

) and in several towns in Romania.

Literary works

Novels

* Acolo și stelele ard, Ed. Gorjan, București, 1942. * Dieu est né en exil,

Fayard Fayard (complete name: ''Librairie Arthème Fayard'') is a French Paris-based publishing house established in 1857. Fayard is controlled by Hachette Livre. In 1999, Éditions Pauvert became part of Fayard. Claude Durand was director of Fayar ...

, Paris, 1960. * Le Chevalier de la Résignation, Fayard, Paris, 1961. * Les Impossibles, Fayard, Paris, 1962. * La septième lettre. Le roman de Platon, Plon, Paris, 1964. * Une femme pour l’Apocalypse,

Éditions Julliard Éditions Julliard is a French publishing house. It was founded in 1942 by René Julliard. Julliard was known as a discoverer and publisher of talents, in particular Françoise Sagan and Jean d'Ormesson. After Julliard's death in July 1962, the ...

, Paris, 1968. * El hombre de las nieblas, Plaza y Janés, Barcelona, 1970. * El viaje a San Marcos, Magisterio Español, Madrid, 1972. * * * * *

Short stories

* El despertar de la sombra, Editora Nacional, Madrid, 1967. * Informe último sobre el Reino H, Plaza y Janés, Barcelona, 1981. * Moartea morții mele, Ed. Dacia, Cluj-Napoca, 1999. * El fin del exilio. Cuentos de juventud, Criterio Libros, Madrid, 2002.

Memoirs

* Journal d’un paysan du Danube, Table Ronde, Paris, 1966. * Memoriile unui fost săgetător, Ed. Vremea, București, 2015.

Essays

* Presencia del mito, Escelicer, Madrid, 1956. * Poesía y libertad, Madrid, Ateneo, 1959. * La rebeldia de los escritores soviéticos, Rialp, Madrid, 1960. * Quaderno italiano, Pisa, 1962. * Giovanni Papini, Wesmael-Charlier, Paris, 1963. * Juan Dacio, Diccionario de los Papas. Prefacio de Vintila Horia. Editorial Destino, Barcelona 1963. (Juan Dacio is the pseudonym of Vintila Horia.) * Platon, personaje de novela, Ateneo, Madrid, 1964. * España y otros mundos, Plaza y Janés, Barcelona, 1970. * Viaje a los Centros de la Tierra, Plaza y Janés, Barcelona, 1971. * Pepi Sánchez, Prensa Española, Madrid, 1972. * Mester de novelista, Prensa Española, Madrid, 1972. * Encuesta detrás de lo visible, Plaza y Janés, Barcelona,1975. * Introducción a la literatura del siglo XX. (Ensayo de epistemología literaria), Gredos, Madrid, 1976. * Consideraciones sobre un mundo peor, Plaza y Janés, Madrid, 1978. * Literatura y disidencia, Ed. Rioduero, Madrid, 1980. * Los derechos humanos y la novela del siglo XX, Magisterio Español, Madrid, 1981. * Mai bine mort decât comunist, Phoenix, București, 1990. * Dicționarul Papilor, Editura Saeculum I.O., 1999.

Poetry

* Procesiuni, Ed. Pavel Suru, București, 1936. * Cetatea cu duhuri, Ed. Pavel Suru, București, 1939. * Cartea omului singur, Ed. Pavel Suru, București, 1941. * A murit un Sfânt, Valle Hermoso (Argentina), 1952. * Poesia romaneasca noua. Antologie, Colecția “Meșterul Manole”, Salamanca, 1956. * Jurnal de copilărie, Fundația Regală Universitară Carol I, Paris, 1958. * Viitor petrecut, Salamanca, 1976.

Books and PhD Theses consecrated to Vintilă Horia

Books

* Sanda Stolojan, Au balcon de l’exil roumain à Paris: avec Cioran, Eugène Ionesco, Mircea Eliade, Vintilă Horia…, Paris,

L'Harmattan Éditions L'Harmattan, usually known simply as L'Harmattan (), is one of the largest French book publishers. It specialises in non-fiction books with a particular focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. It is named after the Harmattan, a trade wind in W ...

, 1999. * Crenguța Gânscă, Vintilă Horia. Al zecelea cerc: eseu despre o trilogie a exilului, Cluj-Napoca, Dacia, 2001. * Marilena Rotaru, Întoarcerea lui Vintilă Horia, Ideea, București, 2002. * Cecilia Latiș, Arhitecturi paralele: Marguerite Yourcenar –Vintilă Horia, Suceava, Editura Universității din Suceava, 2003. * Cecilia Latiș, Polifonii creatoare: paralelă între creația lui Marguerite Yourcenar și a lui Vintilă Horia, Suceava, Editura Universității din Suceava, 2003. * Pompiliu Crăciunescu, Vintilă Horia - Translittérature et Réalité, Editura L’Homme Indivis, Veauche, Franța, 2008. * Georgeta Orian, Vintilă Horia, un scriitor împotriva timpului său, Cluj-Napoca, Limes, 2008. * Pompiliu Crăciunescu, Vintilă Horia - Transliteratură și Realitate, București, Curtea Veche, 2011. * Sonia Elvireanu, Fața întunecată a lui Ianus – Vintilă Horia, Dumitru Țepeneag, Norman Manea, Gabriel Pleșa, Editura Tipo Moldova, Colecția „Academica”, Iași, 2013. * Nicolae Florescu, Vintilă Horia între „ieșirea din a exista și intrarea în a fi”, București, Editura Jurnalul Literar, 2014. * Mihaela Albu and Dan Anghelescu, Eseistica lui Vintilă Horia – deschideri către transdisciplinaritate, Craiova, Aius, 2015.
Isabela Vasiliu-Scraba: "Mircea Eliade, Vintilă Horia și un istoric răpit prin Berlinul de est"

Isabela Vasiliu-Scraba: "Receptarea româneasca a primului scriitor străin laureat al premiului GONCOURT"

Isabela Vasiliu-Scraba: "Vintilă Horia exilat"

Isabela Vasiliu-Scraba: "Vintilă Horia ca istoric al filozofiei româneşti"

PhD Theses

* Monica Nedelcu, La obra literaria de Vintila Horia. El espacio del exilio en cuatro novelas francesas (L’œuvre littéraire de Vintila Horia. L’espace de l’exil dans quatre romans français),

Complutense University of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid (, UCM; ) is a public research university located in Madrid. Founded in Alcalá in 1293 (before relocating to Madrid in 1836), it is one of the oldest operating universities in the world, and one of Spain's ...

, Colección Tesis Doctorales, 1989. * Claudia Drăgănoiu, La prose littéraire d’exil : Vintilă Horia, Constantin Virgil Gheorghiu et L. M. Arcade (Proză literară de exil: Vintilă Horia, Constantin Virgil Gheorghiu și L. M. Arcade), Strasbourg, Faculté des Lettres,

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. Founded in the 16th century by Johannes Sturm, it was a center of intellectual life during ...

, 2011. * Manuela Alexe, Représentations de l’espace dans la prose de Vintilă Horia (Reprezentări ale spațiului în proza lui Vintilă Horia), Școala doctorală de studii literare și culturale,

, 2012. * Renata-Simona Georgescu, L’image de la Roumanie chez Vintilă Horia, Petru Dumitriu et Paul Goma, Facultatea de Litere,

Babeș-Bolyai University The Babeș-Bolyai University ( , , commonly known as UBB) is a public research university located in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Established in 1581 as Academia Claudiopolitana, it underwent several reorganizations over the centuries, eventually taking ...

, Cluj-Napoca, 2013. * Alina Elena Costin, Vintilă Horia: Exil et création, Facultatea de Litere,

Alexandru Ioan Cuza University The Alexandru Ioan Cuza University (; acronym: UAIC) is a public university located in , Romania. Founded by an 1860 decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, under whom the former was converted to a university, the University of , as it was named ...

, Iași, 2013. * Sonia Elvireanu, Fața întunecată a lui Ianus – Vintilă Horia, Dumitru Țepeneag, Norman Manea, Gabriel Pleșa, Facultatea de Istorie și Filologie, 1 Decembrie 1918 University, Alba Iulia, 2013.

Notes

References

* Z. Ornea, ''Anii treizeci. Extrema dreaptă românească'', Editura Fundației Culturale Române, Bucharest, 1995
Excerpts from Wladimir Paskievici, ''Vintilă Horia - omul, opera și afacerea Premiului Goncourt''

Marilena Rotaru, "Întoarcerea lui Vintilă Horia (2)" (1990 interview with Vintilă Horia)
on ''Memoria.ro'' *Richard Wagner

Neue Zürcher Zeitung The (''NZZ''; "New Newspaper of Zurich") is German language daily newspaper, published by NZZ Mediengruppe in Zurich. The paper was founded in 1780. It has a reputation as a high-quality newspaper, as the German Swiss newspaper of record ...

, April 2, 2007 (available at signandsight.com on April 30, 2007) * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Horia, Vintila 1915 births 1992 deaths People from Segarcea Romanian male novelists Romanian writers in French Romanian diplomats Romanian fascists Romanian magazine editors Prix Goncourt winners Gândirea Romanian expatriates in Spain Saint Sava National College alumni Romanian people convicted of war crimes People convicted by the Romanian People's Tribunals People convicted in absentia 20th-century Romanian novelists 20th-century Romanian essayists 20th-century Romanian male writers Far-right politics in Spain University of Bucharest alumni 20th-century Romanian philosophers